Cap shooting airplane



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Cum- QNAKML United States Patent 3,400,486 CAP SHOOTING AIRPLANE Walter L. Strauss, 1107 Broadway, New York, NY. 10010 Filed Apr. 11, 1966, Ser. No. 541,661 9 Claims. (Cl. 46-176) The present invention relates to a toy and more particularly to a mechanical toy.

It is an object of the invention to provide a novel and improved mechanical toy which combines the functions of a cap shooting toy and a toy simulating an airplane.

A more specific object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved mechanical toy which simulates the functions of a fighter plane in that upon activating the toy the propeller of the plane is driven and a shot simulated by detonations of caps is fired.

Another more specific object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved mechanical toy which incorporates in a body simulating the general appearance of an airplane a cap shooting mechanism and which includes a common actuating means such as a trigger, operation of which causes detonation of a cap and spinning of the propeller of the plane.

Still another more specific object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved mechanical toy in which the actuation of the trigger causes firing of a cap, places another cap into the firing position and generates a continuing force for spinning the propeller of the plane.

Other further objects, features and advantages of the invention will be pointed out hereinafter and set forth in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawing a preferred embodiment of the invention is shown by way of illustration and not by way of limitation.

-In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a toy airplane according to the invention, and

FIG. 2 is an elevational view of the airplane, partly in section, on an enlarged scale.

Referring now to the figures more in detail, the exemplification of the toy in the form of an airplane comprises a hollow fuselage 10 mounting a wing assembly 11, a tail assembly 12 and a rotary propeller 13. To complete the toy as a cap shooter a hollow pistol type grip 14 and a trigger 15 extend from the fuselage as can best be seen in FIG. 2. The mechanism for effecting firing of caps and spinning the propeller is mounted in a housing 16 having an extension 17 extending into grip 14. Housing 16 and its extension 17 are mounted within the fuselage and the grip.

Trigger 15 is pivotal about a pivot pin 21 and formed with a gear sector 18, a shoulder 19 and a projection 20 acting in the manner of a pawl as will be more fully explained hereinafter.

The mechanism further comprises a hammer 22 pivotal about a pivot pin 27 secured to housing 16. The hammer includes a slot 23 engaged by pin 27, a shoulder 24 engaged by one end of a spring 28 the other end of which protrudes through a hole in housing 16, a tripper edge and a hammer head 26. The hammer is biased counter-clockwise by spring 28.

The cap shooting mechanism proper comprises a casing 29 disposed within main housing 16. The casing mounts a post 30 for supporting thereon a conventional rolled up cap strip 52, a feed guide 31 and a projection 32. The entire casing is pivotal about a pin 33 and is biased to turn counter-clockwise from the illustrated position within housing 16 to a position protruding therefrom by a spring 34 one end of which bears against the top wall of the casing. It is prevented from turning 'when and 'while projection 32 of the casing is caught by a shaft 35. This shaft 3,400,486 Patented Sept. 10, 1968 is supported in a loose hole in the rear wall of housing 16 and in a slotted hole 36 in the rear wall of housing 16 and in a slotted hole 36 in the front wall of housing 16. The end of shaft 35 protrudes from an opening 56 in fuselage 10 as is shown in FIG. 1. It is biased toward the left as seen in FIG. 1 by being attached to one end of a spring 37 the other end of which is held by a tab 38. Spring 37 is secured to pin 35 and tab 38 by suitable means such as wire loops.

The mechanism also comprises a gear 39 and a pinion 40 engagea'ble with gear sector 18. The gear and the pinion are fixedly seated on a shaft 41 supported in two slotted holes 42 formed in opposite side walls of housing 16. A dish gear or bevel gear 43 and a pinion 44 are fixedly mounted on a pivot pin 45. A shaft 47 is trunnioned in a bracket 48 within the nose of the fuselage and seats propeller 13 and a pinion 46 engaged by gear 46. The bracket is secured to housing 16.

A push bar 49 for pushing the cap strip 52 is recessed at 50 to engage shoulder 19 of trigger 15. The lower end of bar 49 is secured to one end of a spring 51 the other end of which is suitably secured within fuselage 10 or grip 14. Spring 51 biases bar 49 so that the upper end thereof bears against feed guide 31. Moreover, the combined effect of push bar 49 and spring 51 bias trigger 15 in a clockwise direction limited by the end of an opening 55 in fuselage 10'.

The toy mechanism as hereinbefore described operates as follows:

Let it be assumed that all the components of the mechanism are in the illustrated positions except that the cap shooting mechanism is not loaded, that is, the illustrated cap roll 52 is not present as yet. Let it further be assumed that it is desired to load the toy with caps. To this end, shaft 35 which as previously described is pulled toward the left by spring 37 is pushed toward the right thereby releasing hammer projection 32 by manually gripping the end of the shaft protruding from the fuselage. As a result casing 29 of the cap shooting mechanism is released from the illustrated position which is the shooting position and snapped into the protruding position, that is, into the loading position by the action of spring 34. In this position casing 29 protrudes upwardly through a slot 57 in the top wall of fuselage 10 so that post 30 is freely accessible. A roll of caps 52 is now placed upon post 30 and threaded around feed guide 31. The casing is then pushed back into the fuselage and as soon as projection 32 passes shaft 35 the casing is retained in its locked position by spring 47 pulling shaft 35 toward the left so that the shaft again overlies projection 32. All the components of the mechanism are now again in the position of FIG. 2.

To effect shooting of a cap and spinning of propeller 13, trigger 15 is pulled back, that is, turned counter-clockwise about pin 21. As a result, projection 20 on the trigger engages tripper edge 25 thereby turning hammer 22 clockwise about pivot pin 27, that is, from the illustrated rest or inactive position into its cocked position. When and while the trigger is turning, push bar 49 is pushed upwardly as it is linked to the trigger by its recess 50 being engaged with shoulder 19 on the trigger. As a result, the capstrip 52 is pushed along feed guide 31. Moreover gear sector 18 on the trigger turns pinion 40 and thus shaft 41 and gear 39' thereon. Gear 39 turns pinion 44 secured on shaft 45 also seating gear 43. Gear 43, in turn, rotates pinion 46 on propeller shaft 47 so that the propeller begins to spin. As trigger 15 is pulled back further, its projection 20* passes tripper edge 25 thereby freeing hammer 22 to snap from its cocked position into which it has been turned during the first part of the trigger movement into its illustrated position by the action of spring 28. As a result, a cap which has been placed by the upward movement of push bar 49 between hammer head'26 and the anvil formed by the upper part 3142 of feed guide 31 is detonated.

Let it now be assumed that the user holds trigger squeezed, that its in the position moved toward the right, then the momentum stored in propeller 13, propeller shaft 47, pinion 46, gear 43 and pinion 44 will thrust shaft 41 along slotted holes 42 into a position in which gear 39 is moved out of engagement with pinion 44 and pinion 40 out of engagement With gear sector 18. As a result, propeller 13 continues to spin until its momentum is exhausted. Similarly, the propeller continues to spin if the user releases trigger 15. Release of trigger 15 frees spring 51 to pull the trigger back into the illustrated position due to the engagement between recess 50 on bar 49 and shoulder 19 on the trigger. Accordingly, projection 20 exerts a camming action upon tripper edge forcing the entire hammer assembly toward the right, slot 23 permitting such displacement in reference to pivot pin 27. As a result, projection 20 will clear edge 25 thereby permitting the trigger to return into the position shown in FIG. 2.

When the propeller stops, shaft 41 falls back into its illustrated position by gravity so that gear 39 and pinion 40 re-engage pinion 44 and gear sector 18 respectively. Accordingly, the toy is now ready for firing another cap and spinning the propeller.

While the invention has been described in detail with respect to a certain now preferred example and embodiment of the invention, it will be understood by those skilled in the art, after understanding the invention, that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, and it is intended, therefore, to cover all such changes and modifications in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A mechanical toy comprising, in combination, a hollow body simulating an airplane having a rotary propeller, a cap shooting mechanism, and a common actuating means coupled with said cap shooting mechanism and said propeller, operation of said actuating means actuating said cap shooting mechanism and generating a driving momentum causing spinning of said propeller.

2. A mechanical toy according to claim 1, and comprising transmission means having an input end member coupled with said common actuating means, an output end member coupled with said propeller and.an intermediate member movable into and out of a position in transmitting engagement with said end members, said intermediate member being biased by a directional force into its position of engagement and moved out of said position by the momentum of inertia transmitted to the propeller upon operation of said actuating means thereby freeing said propeller for continued spinning by said momentum of inertia independent of said actuating means.

3. A mechanical toy according to claim 2 wherein said transmission means comprises a gear section on said common actuating means, a rotary shaft supporting said propeller and a gear train coupling said propeller shaft with said gear section for rotating said shaft by rotating said gear section, said gear train including an intermediate gear slidable into and out of engagement with an adjacent gear, said slidable gear being biased to move into its disengaged position in response to a rotational speed above a predetermined value of the gears in the gear train sec- 4 tion between said displaceable gear and said propeller shaft,

4. A mechanical toy according to claim 3 wherein said intermediate gear is seated on a shaft supported in a slot formed in a wall, said shaft being slidable along the length of the slot, and said slot being oriented so that said intermediate gear moves said shaft into a position in which the gear is disengaged from rotation transmitting engagement with said gear section when and while the gears in said section rotate above said predetermined speed. i

5. A mechanical toy according to claim 4 wherein said common actuating means comprises a substantially trigger shaped member pivotally supported on said hollow body protruding therefrom, and coupled with the input end member of said gear train, movement of said trigger shaped member from one angular position into another angular position activating said gear train and operating said cap shooting mechanism for firing cap.

6. A mechanical toy according to claim 4 and comprising a housing fixedly secured within said hollow body, said gear train and a part of said cap shooting mechanism being mounted in said housing, a casing pivotally supported in said housing, said casing mounting another part of said cap shooting mechanism, movement of the casing into one angular position in reference to the housing exposing the cap shooting mechanism for loading the same with a supp-1y of caps and movement of the casing into another angular position in reference to the housing closing the cap shooting mechanism for firing of a cap by activation of said common actuating means.

7. A mechanical toy according to claim 6 and comprising spring means biasing said casing into said one angular position, and releasable latch means retaining said casing in said other angular position, said latch means being releasable from the outside of said hollow body.

8. A mechanical toy according to claim 7 wherein said one part of the cap shooting mechanism comprises a hammer pivotal in said housing between a rest position and a cocked position, spring means biasing the hammer from the cocked position into the rest position, and wherein said trigger shaped member in response to a first pivotal movement in reference to the hollow body first engages said hammer to pivot the same into its cocked position and in response to a continued pivotal movement in the same direction releases the hammer for abrupt return into its rest position and actuates said gear train by engagement of said gear section of the actuating means with said input end gear of the gear train thereby spinning the propeller.

9. A mechanical toy according to claim 8 wherein said other part of the cap shooting mechanism comprises a wall portion constituting a striking surface for the hammer, and feed means for successively feeding caps upon said striking surface, and operating means for said feed means, said operating means being activated by said first pivotal movement of said trigger shaped member.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3/1953 La John 46-l96 X 6/1954 Gowland 46-196 X 

1. A MECHANICAL TOY COMPRISED, IN COMBINATION, A HOLLOW BODY SIMULATING AN AIRPLANE HAVING A ROTARY PROPELLER, A CAP SHOOTING MECHANISM, AND A COMMON ACTUATING MEANS COUPLED WITH SAID CAP SHOOTING MECHANISM AND SAID PROPELLER, OPERATION OF SAID ACTUATING MEANS ACTUATING SAID CAP SHOOTING MECHANISM AND GENERATING A DRIVING MOMENTUM CAUSING SPINNING OF SAID PROPELLER. 